


Maddening

by Cokowritesfics



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Angst and Feels, Bucky Barnes Feels, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Multi, Threats of Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:26:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22872454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cokowritesfics/pseuds/Cokowritesfics
Summary: The war between the Mortal and Fae lands has waged long enough. After suffering severe casualties on both sides a peace treaty has been drawn. In order to ensure it’s kept the remaining members of royal families on both sides are sent to help to act as hostages foster a better understanding of customs and cultures. This leads to Ekene being taken farther from home than she has ever been, to the far Nothern lands of Faerie. The land governed by the Maddened King, King Bastian Barnabus of Moroz Tündér
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s)/Reader, Natasha Romanov (Marvel)/Original Male Character(s), Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers/Original Female Character(s), Steve Rogers/Reader
Kudos: 1





	Maddening

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I’m diving into something new. While I’ve loved living in the lands of Kpop and KHH my muse has found a new direction. Please let me know what you think. I’m always open and willing to hear any and all constructive feedback.
> 
> Terms:
> 
> Moroz: Frost~ Romanian
> 
> Tündér: Faerie- Hungarian

Ekene didn’t know what to expect, but she had know lie was to be drastically different. The voyage to the land of the Fae had taken two weeks to break its border and she was in the midst of rounding out another fortnight to complete the journey to the northern lands. Had it really been that long? Her mind drifted to things she’d been warned about. Time moved differently here. Regardless, the journey had been long and arduous.

Ekene leaned out the window and caught glimpse of the wide white wings gliding through the air. Pegasus. She thought herself remembering the large winged horses she’d seen once she’d crossed the border. She’d only heard about them from soldiers returning from the frontline. They’d said the Fae road on beasts that could fly. Beasts the looked like lions, horses, beasts with bird heads and horse bodies, great serpents that could fly and breathe fire. 

It had chilled her thinking of the things the men had witnessed, and now here she was in a carriage pulled by one of the creatures she’d only ever imagined. Another chill ran through her but this one was caused by the temperature. It’d been in steady decline and showed no signs of warming. Her eyes drifted to the women across from her. The only other two people allowed to accompany on a trip they would never return from. Her trusted ladies in waiting had been volunteered to suffer the same fate. Sacrifice for the good of not just the kingdom but the whole of humanity. 

There had been many chosen from their lands. Some that had come from farther south of the continent than she had. All being torn from their peoples and homes in an effort to save them all from the doom that so many others had befallen in a never-ending war. She took a deep breath to assage the guilt eating at her. Her ladies, Ozioma and Adanna, were huddled together beneath the furs and leaning on each other for warmth.

Her eyes closed as the cold settled further in deeper, into what felt like the marrow of her bones. She thought of the sun. She, like all of her people, spent their time in the sun. It beat down hard, but it was life-giving. Their love it had shown in the colors of their skins. It ranged from earthen clay brown to as pitch as a starless night sky. Ekene herself landed somewhere in the middle.

All that time in the sun left Ekene ill-prepared for the frigid dryness she was enduring. No matter how many furs she piled on, the chill would not abate. She pulled her gloved hands to her mouth and blew into them hoping to return some of the warmth. 

The overall colorlessness of the lands did not help. In every direction, she looked there was a glittering stark whiteness, tinged with a crystal blue. Yet, it somehow managed to be the most vibrant white she’d ever seen. That was one thing to note. The colors here looked like someone had found the purest of the pigments and laid them over everything. 

Suddenly, she felt her stomach drop and pitch forward. Ozioma and Adanna must have felt it too as they awoke with a start. The three of them immediately looked to the windows and saw that land coming closer.

“We must be arriving,” Adanna said breaking the silence. Ozioma hummed her agreeance and the two looked to you. 

“Are you ready your highness?” Ozioma asked a hopeful but concerned looked etched across her face. Her wideset dark brown eyes laying bare her feelings.

With a deep breath, Ekene answered: “As ready as I can be.”

Ekene’s arrival at the Nothern Court of Frost was exactly what she anticipated. The members of the court were in the hall and she could hear the clatter and clang of voices, completely different from dialects she’d grown accustomed to. She’d been sequestered to an antechamber while waiting to be announced. 

She now fought against her nerves forcing her back ramrod straight and her hands clasped in front of her fighting the urge to ring them. Even the low temperature of the room didn’t have as much of an impact. It was covered in what she assumed was permafrost. Though it did match the blue sette and rug. Ekene zeroed in on the rug. The rug made of ice crystals. She released a bone-weary sigh and resigned herself to the fact that she was officially saying goodbye to sunlight and warmth.

Any other time Ekene traveled had been with an entire envoy. An envoy that she’d said goodbye to at the borderlands. The one saving grace everyone’s peoples had been given was that their safety had been written into the accords and the guards escorting them were sworn an oath. Faeries couldn’t lie and the oath was a fail-safe to ensure her arrival and only her arrival.

The lack of envoy made this next step a lot harder. There was no security blanket, nowhere to retreat. Ekene was truly on her own. 

The accords had been drawn to end what seemed to be a never-ending conflict. Faeries and humans locked in a brutal battle for the end of the other species. The war had been waging for centuries. Sometimes dormant, sometimes stretching for years at a time, but never truly ending until now. This last bout of had raged for the better part of twenty years and from those with a long enough memory, faeries, it was the bloodiest yet. While the humans reproduced at a rate to replace and replenish the population the Fae did not. The difference here was that Fae magic recovered and lent enough that there wasn’t a need for an evolutionary change to boost their numbers.

The true call for peace came in the vast change in cruelty on both sides. To eliminate upcoming numbers the fae started attacking more and more women and children. While the humans resulted to iron torture. Iron weapons had always been used, but previously their purpose had been to kill quickly or completely maim. Then the move had been made to Fae torture. Iron crowns, girdles, chains and more all made to prolong pain and create despair. To stop the devastation the accords were struck. Royal representatives were sent to the other side of borders as an act of good faith. In truth, they were insurance clauses. 

One of the main proponents of the cease-fire was Ekene’s host, Kings Bastian Barnabus of Moroz. The Nothern most kingdom of Tündér. He was more commonly know in the mortal lands as The Mad One. King Bastian was one of the victims of iron torture. Said to be driven half-mad because of it. The bearer of an iron crown and chains wrapped around his sword arm so tight that it had burned deep enough that upon his rescue it couldn’t be removed. His body tried to heal the wounds and ended up molding around the iron. New muscle and tendon looped through the links, removing the possibility of the King being completely rid of the poison. 

This is often attributed to King Bastian’s madness, forever in pain, unable to fully recover, doomed to be slowly driven crazy.

Ekene was about to get first-hand exposure to confirm if the rumors were true. With only the quieting of voices servings as her warning, the doors leading to the throne room opened…

Ekene swallowed focusing on keeping her hands steady and her breaths even. The steward announced her name and she took her first steps into what felt like a room full of vipers. Knowing each step lead her towards the more poisonous snakes. Wither her eyes focused on the dais she barely was able to register who or what was present. The gentry and high fae of course, but ice sprites? Mountain trolls? She wasn’t sure, because perched upon his throne was one King Bastian of Moroz looking like ice and snow personified. 

The first thing Ekene noticed was his hair. So dark in contrast to the snowy white and frozen blue surrounding him. His eyes, as blue as the frozen lake, held nothing of the madness but were completely void of warmth, sharp and calculating. Her eyes inevitably drifted to his sword hand. Though just a brief glimpse Ekene saw the red angry exposed skin marred with lines of silver and scarred as if it had been burned. When her eyes landed back on Bastian’s Ekene caught the smirk indicating he’d seen her look. Her eyes traveled his face seeing the stubble along his jaw stating a beard would occupy it soon.

Ekene lowered herself into a curtsy. Before she could speak King Bastian did. “Princess Ekene, the Kingdom of Moroz welcomes you. I hope your journey has found you well and was not too arduous a task.”

The words were to be expected the tone did not lend to any anger or malice but the smirk accompanying them made Ekene’s stomach clench and hair stand on edge. Her instincts were telling her to be on alert. 

“I appreciate the welcome, Your Grace. The journey was long but the accommodations made were comfortable.” Ekene answered skirting around a full thank you. It was going to be difficult but she knew better than to thank a fae. The last thing she needed was to find herself indebted to one. 

“I look forward to learning of your lands and about Faerie. I hope my stay can be a lucrative one for both of us.” She continued. 

King Bastian released a soft short chuckle and Ekene watched his eyes travel her gown leaving a trail of heat where they landed and then back to her face. “I imagine it will be.”


End file.
